A Mother’s Day Message of Thanks to My Son

I am blessed to have an incredible mom who has shaped my life in countless ways. I wrote a post about that last Mother’s Day, and in the year since she has continued to amaze me with her generosity, seemingly limitless energy and unconditional love and support.

But this year, I also want to take a moment to offer my deep gratitude and appreciation to my son, and acknowledge all of the important lessons he has taught me since that incredible day, six years ago, when I became his mother.

There is no other experience in my life that has been more meaningful or more powerful than motherhood. So on this Mother’s Day, I want to offer my thanks to my beautiful son for teaching me these three golden life lessons:

Life is moving at lightening speed, soak up every moment.

I looked at my son last night and was amazed at how big he has gotten! It seems like just yesterday he was that tiny little preemie we worried about in the NICU.

But as I watch him grow and change, at a rate that is truly alarming, it reminds me of how important it is to be fully present in each moment. My son is the best reminder to try and be mindfully present every day, and savor each moment I have with him.

This too shall pass. (And then there will be something else, and that too will pass.)

This constantly moving, changing, dynamic process called childhood offers many opportunities to learn this life lesson. In the early days of being a mom, I found that I would worry about every little thing and make the mistake of thinking these “things” could be permanent. I’d think, “is he ever going to learn to sleep through the night?” or “why is it taking him so long to learn his colors, is he color blind?”

But then thankfully not too far into this parenting thing, it dawned on me that these “things” were all a bunch of phases. DUH! I actually taught a college course on child development once upon a time (and now attribute my lack of sleep for forgetting those lessons).

As soon as you think you can not possibly make it through one more night of crying from teething pain, the tooth arrives and you move on to the next thing. But if you can practice acceptance and remind yourself that everything is always changing, you’ll be better able to tolerate the rough stuff no matter the situation.

Whenever you can, laugh and DANCE!

Juggling a full time job, being a mother, keeping up with friends, and trying to live a healthy and balanced life can be difficult. But whenever I’m feeling tired, cranky or stressed out, my son is there to remind me that there’s always an opportunity to bring joy and fun into any moment.

My silly boy, who seems to spend half his waking hours working on his “dance moves,” reminds me every day how important it is to laugh and play.

So on this Mother’s Day, remember to have some laugh-out-loud fun and savor each and every moment. That’s exactly what I plan on doing with my son.